Power-rammer.



P. W. HUDSON.

, POWER RAMMER. APPL'ICATION FILED PEB.28, 1908.

995,678. Patented me 20, 911.

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FRANK W. HUDSON, EAST S1. LOUIS, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO AMERICAN STEELEOUNDRIES, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., AND CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OFNEW JERSEY.

POVJER-RAMMER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented J une 20, 1911.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANK W. HUDSON,

citizen of the United States, residing at East St. Louis, in the countyof St. Clair and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Power- Rammers, of which the following is aspecification.

The invention relates to power rammers for compacting sand in molds, andhas for its objects; to provide a rammer which Wlll accommodate itselfto the shape of the patterns and cores whereby the placing of unevenpressure on any parts of such cores or patterns is avoided; to provide apower rammer in which the blows may be very rapidly delivered withoutundue force; to provide a rammer in which the action is free andyielding and devoid of sharp jars and shocks, and finally, to provide ameans for supplying the molding sand expeditiously to the mold.

One embodiment of the invention is shown in the accompanying drawing, inwhich the figure is a transverse section through the center of theapparatus.

I have illustrated only those parts of the construction which I considernew, but in order to indicate clearly the relation in which I intendordinarily to use the rammer, attention is directed to my prior Patent#723,529, March 2 1, 1908, in which the rammers are mounted on a movableframe so that the machine will be carried bodily over any desired mold.My device is preferably so mounted, although it will be apparent that itmight be stationary if so desired.

As shown in the drawings, 1 is the frame of the machine, which framecarries rigidly secured thereto the rammer cylinder 2 provided with theplunger 3, which plunger carries the rammer head 4:. The plunger isconnected by means of the connecting rods 5 with a supplementarycylinder 6, which cylinder is adapted to move up and down upon thestationary plunger 7 rigidly secured to the top of the cylinder 2. Itwill be seen that by this construction a chamber 8 is provided intowhich air pressure may be admitted to force the plunger 3 down, and achamber 9 by means of which when pressure is admitted the supplementarycylinder 6 may be raised, thereby lifting the plunger 3. The controllingvalve for admitting pressure to the cylinders 2 and 6 is located at theright of the drawing, and comprises a casing 10, a piston 11, operatingrods 12 and 13, and a handle 14 pivoted at 15. Fluid pressure issupplied by means of the admission pipe 16, while the pipes 17 and 18lead to the cylinders 2 and 6 respectively, the admission openingleading from the pipe 18 to the chamber 9 being marked 19. The piston 11is also provided with a port 20 leading longitudinally therethrough, andthe casing 10 is provided with an exhaust port 21.

It will be seen that when the parts are in the position indicated in thedrawing air pressure is being supplied to the top of the plunger 3 bymeans of the pipes 16 and 17, and the reduced central portion of thevalve 11, and that as the supplementary cylinder 6 is being moved downthe air from the chamber 9 is permitted to exhaust through the passages19 and 18, and the exhaust port 21. When the plunger 3 reaches its lowerlimit the valve 11 is depressed, thereby admitting pressure to thesupplementary cyllnder 6 by means of the passages 16, 18 and 19, and theconnection in the valve formed by the reduced central portion thereof,and exhaust occurs from the cylinder 2 by means of the pipe 17 and theport 20 in the valve and the exhaust port 21.

One of the features of my invention re sides in the rammer head 4secured to the plunger 3. This rammer head consists of a casing providedwith a plurality of ramming members 22, which members are freelyreciprocable in the casing, and are spring supported from the undersideby means of the springs 23. It will be seen from this construction thatwhen the plunger 3 descends the ramming members 22 are not positivelydriven, but simply operate by virtue of their weight, so that thedriving force for all the plungers 22 is uniform. It therefore followsthat no undue strain will be put upon the pattern in the mold box 2 1.It will also be apparent that the force of the blows delivered by themembers 22 will be the same irrespective of the rapidity with which theplunger is reciprocated, and that a large number of blows may be struckwithout any liability of any blow being too severe. The springs 23 serveto take up all jar on the backward movement of the plunger, so that thedevice will operate smoothly.

It will be seen that by reason of the play H allowed for the members 22,the height of the sand in the mold box 24 may be varied without in anyway affecting the operation of the machine, as the play of the member 22is suflicient to permit of the reciprocation of the rammer head 4 atdifferent heights above the mold box 24 without any positive engagementbetween the tops of the members 22 and the rammer head.

Another feature of my invention relates to the sand box carried by themachine, and adapted to fill the mold boxes, as desired. This sand boxcomprises a vertical wall 25 and an inclined wall 26, therebyconstituting a hopper from the bottom of which the sand may be fed bygravity. The two members 25 and 26 are slotted adjacent thebottom, andthe slot forms the feeding opening for the sand. This feeding opening iscontrolled by a slide 27, which may be reciprocated by fluid pressurefrom the cylinder 28 by the lever 29 pivoted at 30 and having a pin andslot connection at its lower end with the slide 27. This arrangementconstitutes an effective feeding means, as the vertical side 25 can bebrought adjacent the side of the mold, and by simply opening the slide agravity feed will occur into the mold box. It will be seen that there isno danger of clogging in this construction, as the slide 27 fits tightlyin the socket 31, and moves over the smooth surface 32, thereby keepingsuch surface clean, and when pushed to the closed position as indicatedin the drawing, the

feeding slot is cleaned. This feature of my invention will be claimed ina separate application.

Having thus described my invention and illustrated its use, what I claimas new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is the following:

1. In combination in a ramming machine, an upright rammer head, meansfor reciprocating it, and ramming means spring supported againstdownward movement and freely reciprocable in the rammer head.

2. In combination in a ramming machine, an upright rammer head, meansfor reeiproeating it, and ramming means comprising a plurality of freelyreciprocable independent ramming members spring supported againstdownward movement.

3. In combination in a ramming machine,

FRANK WV. HUDSON.

Witnesses:

W. H. CAMERON, GEO. A. SGHAEFER.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G.

